(East Los Angeles, CA) July 5, 2022 [From The Editor’s Desk]: To draw a parallel of very good sorts, we have to say that #30, Nneka Ogwuimkwe, the Sparks power forward, is performing like a “Woman On Fire” at this point in the season. So much so that she dominated the WNBA with her past week’s illustrious work and caught the appropriate attention of the Associated Press. In essence, she has literally demonstrated to her Interim Head Coach, Fred Williams, and to the rest of her team, that they are all no burden, and if necessary, she will carry them through the rest of this season and into the playoffs. Attitude is everything.

With our recent characterization and christening of her with our nickname, the “Big O #1”, we remain inclined to view her career in ultimate comparisons, if we may say so now, to the NBA’s Karl “The Mailman” Malone who always delivered in big time ways to the success of his team and to Oscar Robertson, the original “Big O”, who dominated his era with “triple-doubles” before the NBA created that new category. Being compared to the All-Time Great Ones is always a fan’s instinct, delight, and battle-cry, therefore, we would like to chime in with our recognition, and yet another congratulations to #30/Nneka Ogwumike, on a job well-done!! ¡¡Qué Viva Nneka!!

Here is the Sparks Media Department’s press announcement we present for your reading.

The Associated Press announced on July 5th that Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike won their AP “Player of the Week,” for games played between June 28 through July 4.

During that stretch, Ogwumike led the Sparks to a (3-0) record with a road win against the Dallas Wings and recent “back-to-back” home wins against the New York Liberty and the Phoenix Mercury. Here are her remarkable statistics through that three-game stretch: scoring average was (22) points per game, (6) rebounds per game, and (2) steals per game, while shooting (57%) from the field.

Her efforts helped the Sparks franchise reach their 500^th regular season victory when they beat the Dallas Wings on July 1st in Dallas.

The Sparks are the first WNBA franchise to reach that milestone. They accomplished this in just (837) games, breaking the NBA/WNBA record set by the Milwaukee Bucks on January 12, 1979, when they reached 500 wins in (866) games. Ogwumike has played in (193) of the Sparks (500) wins.

The Sparks final game before the July 8-10th All-Star Break is Thursday, July 7th at 7:30 p.m. PT at Crypto.com Arena against the Seattle Storm. The game will be televised on Spectrum SportsNet and Twitter. Ogwumike was named a 2022 WNBA All-Star Starter, her seventh time being named a WNBA All-Star.